Sedulia's Sites

How long does it take to belong?

Today I was talking to a Vietnamese-French guy who had been in Paris for 35 years. He spoke French perfectly (as far as I could tell anyway; and after all these years, I really can tell a bit). "So you're really Parisian," I said.

"It's different for you," he said. "From a distance, you look French. With me, they always can tell I am asiatique."

It's true that people often ask me for directions in Paris. When I'm here, I dress in "protective coloration" and not like an American. But I asked him if his children felt more French, or more Vietnamese.

"Oh, they're not the tiniest bit Vietnamese," he said. "They don't speak the language and they don't know the culture. But they'll never really be French, either."

I have been told by more than one Parisian that my ancestors are not really French because they were from Metz and Strasbourg. It doesn't matter how many generations they lived there, or if they had served in France's wars, they are not counted as true Frenchmen.

Elaine Sciolino in ParisOf the N.Y. Times (or as it prefers to be known, The N.Y. Times) and writer of La Seduction: How the French Play the Game of Life

Le Franco PhoneyA long-term Australian expat in a French ski resort. I can't believe it took me so long to discover this one.

The Compleat AngloI have to like a blog that is named The Compleat Anglo. An Englishman married to his Madame, in the Basque country

Flipflop France23-year-old Sasha, an Oregonian from Forks (town made famous by the Twilight vampire saga), has settled down in France's second city, Lyons. [No that isn't a mistake. I spell it the old-fashioned English way.]